Belkits Volkswagen Polo WRC - Unboxing and Mini Review

[Jhedir6]

This is my review of Belkits Volkswagen Polo WRC kit along with Hobby Designs detail up set, Gravity Colors paints and Racing Toro masking/decal set.

First off, Belkits Polo WRC. Right out the box its a very beautifully packaged kit. Each parts tree and sub-assembly part pack are shrink wrapped separately. 

Interior/roll cage:

More interior and some exterior parts:

Suspension:

Chassis and interior pan:

Body:

Clear parts:

Chrome bits:

Photo etch tires and seatbelt material:

Stock decal sheet.

Instruction booklet:

All the parts look clean, no visible flash at first glance. More than enough detail to make a very nice looking model OOB. At this time the only complaints I have on the kit are, first, no engine detail. Would have been really nice to have had an engine in the kit. Maybe Scale Productions will do one like they did for the Escort Mk. I. Secondly, the interior tub in the rear, like the Fiesta kit, there's no detail panel for the inside of the rear hatch. Not a big issue, but would have completed the interior in my opinion. Neither are big problems, just would of liked to have seen these details included. Cost..I picked up the Belkit and the Hobby Design detail up kit from MSHobbies

Onto the Hobby Design detail up set.

Inside the sleeve:

Instructions:

Resin brake components:

Photo etched and seat belt/spare tire tie down material.

HD's usual fair, very nice PE along with some nicely cast resin. Over all looks like a nice set. Only issues I have right now are, one, instructions, might be abit sparse, some HD sets in the past have instructions that are a little vague on where parts go, or if material needs to be removed off the stock piece. So far this set looks good, but I always think HD sets need better instructions. But I could be wrong on this one. Second, the seat belt/spare tire tie down material doesnt have lengths listed as to how long to make it. Now that I look, neither does the Belkits instructions. Some of the parts are redundant as there is PE in the base kit, but even if I don't use all the PE from the HD set on the Polo, they'll find a home elsewhere.

Gravity Colors Paints.

Gravity Paints.....all I can say is wow, I love this stuff. Colours look good, sharp and mixed perfectly, ready to spray. I love the way GC colours go down and will keep using them for a long time to come. You need five different colours for this build. Volkswagen Pure White, Volkswagen Atlantic Blue, Volkswagen Rising Blue, Red Bull F1 Yellow and OZ Gun Metal for the wheels.  My only issue with GC paints at this time is, cost. Per volume, compared to other brands the cost is higher. But from what I've found is, they go on with better coverage in most cases, so you use less. In the end, it might be a wash on cost. The only other thing I'd like to see is some bigger sizes for things like primers, and standard colours, black, white, matte black, silver/aluminum. If GC brings some larger size bottles to market soon I think they'll increase their sales greatly.

And finally the Racing Toro masking/decal set. Listed as RT-001 looks like its the first production item from these guys, and hopefully not the last.

(not sure why, but the system keeps laying this photo down on its side, in Photobucket its right way up)

Inside, nice verbal directions with color photos of the real car to aid in placement of the masks.

Backside of instruction sheet with a copy of the maskings for clarity or, for when you mess one up and need to make a replacement.

The masks themselves, die cut and numbered for placement.

Decal sheet, three different driver pairs for four different rallies. Decals looks great with Cartograf like quality  with minimal to no excess carrier film.

Inside of the packaging sleeve with more reference photos of the real car for decal placement for the version you choose.

And the backside of the packaging sleeve with more reference shots.

These guys hit this out of the park. Quality is top notch. Directions looks sound and spot on from the quick over view I gave them. Decal quality looks to be impressive with bright crisp colours and no visible bleeding of the edges on the decals. The masks are die cut and ready to peel and place. They're numbered and go onto the kit in numerical order for ease of use. The only issue I see at this point, the masks are very very delicate and will require a lot of patience and meticulous preparation to get them placed right the first time. The directions will need to be followed to the letter and the build will require multiple trips to and from the paint both to apply and remove the masks. This is definitely not a beginners set. 

Now, should you not want to go the route of the masks from Racing Toro, Belkits has listed on their site future releases for the 2015 car (BEL010) and the 2016 car (BEL011). Not sure on release dates yet or if they'll provide paint masks or decals for the complex livery. But if you're liking this car and don't want to wait for Belkits releases, these aftermarket items are definitely worth the investment.

I'll be starting my build of this kit on the weekend, so I'll post there any issues I come across there and will update the comments here as well.

David

 

 

 

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Jhedir6

[espo]

This looks like the most detailed kit I have ever seen. In the past I built a couple of Tamiya WRC models and enjoyed them, but this looks so much better. It is a shame that VW is pulling out of WRC next season.

[Bennyg]

Very nice.

Ben